Student Threatened Over Speaking Out About PGCPS Closures

Bowie MD

08 February, 2022

1:12 PM

Description

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MD — A student at Community Based Classroom in Prince George's County was warned by a stranger who called and threatened her to not speak out at a school board meeting about the closure of two alternative high schools in the county. Police are investigating the incident. Community Based Classroom in Bladensburg and Tall Oaks Vocational High School in Bowie have been proposed to close, which has raised an array of emotions from students, parents and faculty. Jade Mason, a student at Community Based Classroom, told NBC Washington she received a call from an unknown woman telling her not to speak about the closures at any school board meetings. "She said 'do not speak at this Thursday's meeting or any future budget meetings,'" Mason said during Thursday's meeting of the Prince George's County School Board. "But I will not be silenced. To the woman who called, if you are here, you have only created more hopes for the future of CBC." The principals of those same two schools filed a lawsuit against Prince George's County in 2019 citing unpaid wages. "Both of those alternative schools happen to be my clients who are the principals, and we have a trial coming up in April," their attorney, Mitchell Batt, told NBC Washington. "Whether or not there is a causal connection between those two, I don't know, but it's certainly something that piques our interest and we're looking into it." A final decision on whether the schools will close will be made by the board later this month.